1st beat Whyteleafe 3 - 2

By Mark Beard

Bridges finish 2018 with another win

Three Bridges beat Whyteleafe 3-2 in emphatic fashion. The visitors did well to come back from behind twice but they could do nothing to stop Bridges collecting all three points after Brannon O’Neill netted a last minute winner.

The game may well have been emphatic but only in the second half. The first was not as half entertaining with few chances occurring for either side. The best chance of the half came in just the 14th minute. Whyteleafe started best and Lauris Chin bombed down the wing and held the ball up nicely as he squared the ball to Arif Hattabi and all he had to do was place the ball into an empty net but he put too much power on the shot and it flicked off the bar and over, a great chance missed.

Bridges failed to create many chances in the first half and Whyteleafe nearly made them pay four minutes before the interval with the ball crashing off the post after a good attacking move.

The second half did not disappoint and it took just 7 minutes for the first real action to occur. A lovely ball was sent into the box where George Gaskin looped a delightful header into the back of the net off the bar but he was called offside by the linesman. Bridges continued to dominate play and got their reward on 56 minutes. John Ufuah switched the play to Ibby Akanbi who used great skill to take it beyond three defenders but was tackled by the fourth which led to the ball breaking loose in the box and TOYO ADESHINA was there to smash home and make it 1-0.

The lead did not last long though as in the 58th minute Matthew O’Donoghue equalised with a lovely strike on the edge of the box which left James Shaw with no chance. The game then seemed to settle down until the 80th minute where it all heated up. First Joshua Malcolm crashed the ball off the bar with a left footed effort and then in the 82nd George Gaskin was played through and smashed the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to make it 2-1.

Then déjà vu struck as two minutes later Bryan Akongo fumbled the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-2 - so unlucky as Bridges deserved the lead. Then fortune struck, the ball fell to Brannon O'Neill who drove forward into the box and slid the ball under the oncoming goalkpeeper to make it 3-2 in the 90th minute causing absolute scenes in the Bridges dugout. A deserved win for Bridges in their final game of 2018.

Bridges open the 2019 campaign away to League leaders, Cray Wanderers, on Sunday, 6th January.